SasuSaku- Lovers
by pinkrose064
Summary: Sasuke left Sakura on a bench when he deserted the Leaf, but just before he knocked her out, he told her "thank you". What are his true feelings for the pink-haired kunoichi? Can those feelings survive his thirst for revenge? Song Fic centered around the song Lovers from Naruto Shippuden. Rated T only because of what happens in The Valley of the End at the end of the Fourth War.


Uchiha Sasuke sighed as he sat down on the bed in the room Orochimaru had given him. It had been a real pain to reach him, so training wouldn't begin today. He couldn't decide if he was happy about that or not. As impatient as he was to obtain the power needed to kill his older brother, he was exhausted and his entire body ached. With a sigh, the teenager reached into his backpack and pulled out the photo of Team 7, staring at it intently.

His eyes fell first on a man with wild silver hair, who was smiling awkwardly beneath a mask that covered half his face, his hands on both Sasuke's and another boy's heads, trying to force them to look at the camera. Kakashi, Sasuke's forever late jonin instructor who was insanely talented at keeping his face hidden. The other boy was Naruto, a blond with blue eyes. He was crossing his arms, gritting his teeth, and glaring off to the side. He hadn't been remotely happy about them being placed on the same team, and Sasuke couldn't say he'd been thrilled about it either at the time. He had been convinced that the blond-haired kid would only slow him down. He absently remembered his older brother once encouraging him to try to be friends with Naruto when they were younger, due to the rambunctious boy's refusal to leave him alone like all the other students did. Sasuke scowled at the memory of any conversation he'd ever had with Itachi, but he idly wondered exactly when Naruto had gone from being curious about him to despising him so much. He shook off the thought. It really didn't matter. Somewhere along the line, the two of them had formed a bond that Sasuke was certain he had now severed after leaving his former teammate unconscious in a river. Naruto had been on his back, so there had been no risk of him drowning.

He looked at himself in the photo, like Naruto, he wasn't even looking at the camera, but was instead glaring off to the side. He had thought that having the photo taken to begin with was a total waste of time. Back then, he had been singleminded in his goal of killing Itachi, as he was now, but somewhere between now and then, he had gotten distracted. When had that happened?

His eyes then drifted toward a pink haired girl in the center of the photo. She was beaming with pleasure, the only person who looked truly happy about this arrangement. Sakura, a girl who had been infatuated with him since they had entered the Academy, just like all the other girls, save for Hinata Hyūga, who only had eyes for Naruto. Her grades at the Academy had been better than Naruto's, but on actual missions, she'd been basically useless.

He closed his eyes. No, that wasn't quite right. Sakura had tried to be useful. She had been willing to do her duty as a ninja despite her naivety about what that actually entailed. However, neither he nor Naruto had ever actually _allowed_ her to be helpful in dangerous situations. Whenever the enemy targeted her, either one boy or the other would basically throw themselves in front of her to protect her. It was true that she had been captured during the mission to retrieve the statue belonging to the Daimyo's sister, but that had been entirely his and Naruto's fault. When they had attempted to compete with each other by retrieving the statue before the other, rather than signaling Kakashi first and working as a team like they should have, Sakura had been left alone and outnumbered, and the enemy had thwarted her attempt to signal their instructor. Though Sakura was thankfully unharmed when they succeeded in rescuing her, he and Naruto had paid the price for their stupidity by being literally stuck with one another for three days straight.

However, Sakura _had_ managed to prove her worth as a team member when they were in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exam. When both he and Naruto had lost consciousness, she had managed to haul them both to safety and keep all three of them alive through the night. That was a considerable feat on its own in a place filled with deadly predators, especially since he himself had been ill for most of that night. And when the enemy attacked them the following morning, she had put everything she had into protecting the two of them, taking a terrible beating and even chopping off her own hair with a kunai in the process. For a girl who was obsessed with her appearance and considered her hair to be her only beauty, that was no minor sacrifice. It was true that she had gotten disqualified after her battle with Yamanaka Ino, but the other kunoichi had had significantly fewer—and less severe—injuries when she'd arrived at the tower. Despite that, Sakura had managed to be an even match for Ino and had even succeeded in freeing herself from the other girl's mind transfer jutsu, showing incredible strength of mind and will. Sasuke was certain that if she and Ino had been on equal footing, Sakura would've won the match handedly.

So yes, it did seem that perhaps he and Naruto were at least partially to blame for Sakura's lack of strength, but Sasuke suspected that the girl possessed hidden talent that had yet to be awakened.

...However, talent did not necessarily equate to strength in battle. Sakura was highly intelligent. Among their class, her intellect was second only to the lazy genius, Nara Shikamaru. In addition, her prowess for chakra control far outclassed Naruto's and even his own. And apparently, somewhere along the line, she had become basically resistant to standard genjutsu. Only something advanced like the Sharingan could overtake her. Those were skills that no doubt could be honed to make her an incredible asset to Konoha, but none of them equated to battle strength on their own. Unless she learned some kind of incredible form of taijutsu or something, she would always be weak.

Which was exactly why he couldn't have allowed her to come with him when he deserted, even if he had wanted to. Sakura was sweet and kind-hearted, but she was also weak and naive. She would be eaten alive in this place. Though he would never admit it, even to himself, a part of him wanted to protect that innocence of hers. Sakura was the way that she was because she had never endured the kind of pain and sadness that he and Naruto had been exposed to as children. If he _had_ brought her with him, she would have, at best, been forced to become an assistant to Kabuto or something. The things that happened here were not something her fragile heart would be able to take, and Sasuke did not want to see Sakura be broken by darkness as he had once been. That was why, inspite of her desperate pleas and flowing tears, he had knocked her unconscious and left her on a bench near the Academy. His parting words to her had been "thank you."

 _I see that you have shed tears just now_

 _As if you were a sobbing child_

 _No matter what, even if tomorrow is unseen_

 _I will protect you!_

 _I gazed up intently at the summer sky…_

Besides, bringing her wasn't an option. In order to become strong enough to defeat his brother, he had to sever all of his bonds. It wasn't that he wanted to. But if he cared for them, if he remained close to Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura, they would inevitably be used against him. Any one of them could be taken hostage as a means to stay his hand, and Sakura was the most likely target in that regard. He couldn't explain it, but he had been so _angry_ when he had seen her swollen and bruised face and body upon waking up in the Forest of Death. He had been so _scared_ when Gaara had pinned her to a tree with every intention of killing her. And he had sworn that he would _never_ lose anyone he cared for again, even if that meant cutting himself off from them.

 _I'm only acting tough so that my tears will never show_

 _But truthfully, I tend to be afraid_

 _Of what it is like to lose the ones that I treasure_

 _I have been desperate and running right through_

There had been a moment after Naruto had defeated Gaara and Sakura was safe that Sasuke had been flooded with relief. She was okay. That messed up Chunin exam was over and the monster who had threatened her had fallen. The three Sound Ninja who had harmed her in the Forest of Death had all paid in some way or another, though not necessarily by his hand. The curse mark, five days in that horrific forest, relentless attacks by the enemy… they'd survived all of it, and as he carefully held Sakura's injured body close to him, he couldn't help but feel that, in that one moment, he could relax and believe they were safe.

 _The two of us have always overcome_

 _All of the long and endless nights_

 _As it is, we are together, so I don't have to pretend_

 _To be strong_

Four years later, Sasuke struggled to deal with the effects of overusing his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan as he faced off against Kakashi on the bridge where he had recently killed Shimura Danzou, the true villain behind the genocide of his clan. He was unaware that Sakura was behind him. The kunoichi attempted to plunge a poisoned-tipped kunai into his exposed back, but stopped short, tears flowing down her cheeks as she realized that she couldn't carry out the task she had come here to do. Sasuke suddenly became aware of her presence and whirled around, grabbing the teenaged girl by the throat and holding her above his head. Wrenching the kunai from her grasp, he attempted for the third time since she had shown up here to end her life, even though, up until now, she hadn't made any real attempt to attack him herself. It was something he felt he had to do. Somewhere in his heart, he believed that Sakura was still a weakness for him. In the past, she had repeatedly tried to stop him when he went out of control at the risk of her own safety. She'd clung to his back in the Forest of Death when he had gone mad with rage due to the curse mark. She had tried to get between him and Naruto on the rooftop of Konoha Hospital and likely would've been killed by the combination of his Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan had Kakashi not intervened at the last second. She'd always been the one to try and stop him, and even as he took note of the tears she had been crying before he'd caught her in this death grip, he believed he couldn't allow weakness for a woman to stop him now. He wasn't sure what killing her would lead to, but he believed he had to do it. He spun the kunai around in his hand and moved to end Sakura's life quickly.

 _I see that you have shed tears just now_

 _As if you were a sobbing child_

 _No matter what, even if tomorrow is unseen_

 _I_ _will move forward!_

 _I looked up and screamed out at the summer sky!_

Sasuke watched the tears fall down Sakura's face as she healed him, a tender look in his one, open eye that neither she nor Naruto saw—mostly because Naruto couldn't and Sakura was somehow managing to sob and close the two boys' wounds at the same time. "...Sorry. ...For everything up until now." Those were the words that had caused the tears this time, although they seemed to be of relief more than sadness or anger. He had finally apologized for everything.

Uchiha Obito had been the one to tell Sasuke the truth about his clan's destruction following the death of his brother. Although the story he had told was true, he had conveniently left out the part where he'd been the one responsible for Kurama attacking Konoha on the night that Naruto was born, which had been the initial catalyst for the whole thing, making it seem as though the fault lied entirely with Konoha's administration. That had set Sasuke down a war path to destroy Konoha, the very place Itachi had dedicated his ill-fated life to protecting. He had succeeded in killing Danzou for all he had done, but as a result, Sakura…

At one time, he had entertained the idea that maybe, when he'd had his revenge, he would accept Sakura's feelings and together, they would restore his clan. Instead, she had nearly died that day, by his hand.

 _Somebody murmured to me a trap made out of words_

 _Seducing me as though it were a dance_

 _The most important person that I held inside my heart_

 _I understood it was you, yet nonetheless_

Even so, when the battle against Kaguya had ended and Sasuke had challenged Naruto to a final battle between them, Sakura seemed to have forgotten that matter as she begged him to stop this insanity for her sake. He had responded by using genjutsu to knock her unconscious once again. Although he claimed that he did not need Sakura's love, the truth was, he was scared to believe in it. His brother had betrayed him to protect him. With that in mind, was love even something that was worth believing in? He couldn't even remember the last time he'd allowed himself to love, to believe, to hope, or even to cry. What use were things like tears anyway?

It was after losing consciousness when he and Naruto had taken each others' arms off that he finally began to remember. He had always tried to go it alone, but there were always two people who were determined to stay by his side no matter what he thought of it. Naruto and Sakura. Neither could give up on him. Both had pursued him relentlessly. Naruto had always refused do anything but believe. He'd hung onto hope where no one else saw any. And Sakura… could not help but love him. No matter what her head told her, her heart led the way. She spoke with her tears.

 _I was scared of what it meant to believe_

 _And had forgotten just what tears are for_

 _If the wind has pushed at our two backs_

 _Then we can surely go_

 _Both you and I_

Sasuke sat silently in the prison cell in Konoha, his upper body bound and a seal placed upon his eyes to prevent him from using them. Not that he would ever bother to voice his discomfort, especially to people who couldn't care less, but was practically wrapping him in a straight jacket really necessary? He only had **one** arm. Surely they could've just restrained that without pinning both it and what was left of his left arm to his sides. The blindfold was annoying too, but he at least understood the reasons for that. He had the Rinnegan in one eye and the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in the other. Since neither required his one hand to use for the most part, placing the seal was entirely necessary. There were only three people who currently believed that he'd come back to his senses, so it was for everybody else's peace of mind. It was just annoying being unable to see.

There was no point in looking up when he heard the cell door open, but he could tell through other senses who was. Sakura had come, as she did thrice daily, to tend to his remnant of an arm and to assist him with eating. Not that he was incapable of eating with his right hand, but it was kind of hard when he couldn't actually see the food. Still, he couldn't stop the slight sigh of relief as she removed the binding around his torso in order to tend the wound.

"How does it feel?" Sakura asked as she examined the dismembered limb. The wound had been left open overnight after it had happened, so it had gotten infected, although it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Of course, _Naruto's_ injury was totally fine, save for the missing limb, but that was because of Kurama's chakra.

"It's doing better." Sasuke replied, "The ghost pains are coming less frequently." Sakura nodded, then looked up with surprise as Sasuke gently reached over with his good hand and placed it upon a bandage on Sakura's upper right arm. "How is _yours_?" He knew that Sakura had suffered an acid burn during the final battle of the war, and that Tsunade had not been able to heal it using Mystic Palm because she and Shizune were needed to tend to those with more critical injuries. The burn was beyond Ino and Hinata's abilities and Sakura had been too exhausted to manage it herself.

Although he couldn't see it, Sakura smiled softly, "It's doing all right. Lady Tsunade told me that I should let it heal naturally since I had used the Mitotic Regeneration during the battle. She's been checking on it though, and she said she doesn't think it will leave a scar."

Sasuke nodded, somehow hating the idea of a burn scar on Sakura's strong yet slender arms. He gently ran his hand down her arm before taking her small hand his own, absentmindedly running his thumb over her surprisingly soft knuckles. "How is that you are so ridiculously strong when you are so slender and soft?"

Sakura blushed, as that was literally the most Sasuke had ever said about her body, even if it pertained entirely to her skin and arms. "I'm actually not."

"I watched you punch a Ten-Tails clone clear across the battlefield and then follow that up with creating a massive crater." He deadpanned.

Sakura blushed, but answered, "I'm actually still pretty weak in terms of actual muscle strength. But part of my training with Lady Tsunade was learning how to infuse my attacks with chakra to make them more powerful."

Sasuke thought back to the memories Itachi had shown him, recalling how his brother had once done something similar to protect him and their mother from a boulder during the Kyuubi incident. "An incredible form of Taijutsu..." He muttered, recalling his thoughts from long ago.

"Pardon?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Nothing." Sasuke told her, "Just remembering something from long ago."

Sakura blinked, but didn't ask. Instead she secured the bandage on Sasuke's left deltoid and then attempted to tug her hand free so she could move to the next task, but Sasuke grasped it tightly with his own. "Sasuke-kun... you need to have lunch so you can take the antibiotic..."

"I know, but, just a little longer, Sakura. I've missed your touch."

恋人

A few days later, Sasuke stood at the A-un Gate, facing Sakura and the newly inaugurated Sixth Hokage Kakashi.

"Well, to be perfectly honest… …Someone like you would normally be imprisoned." Kakashi remarked, as if Sasuke hadn't just spent the past month in prison, "That all of your past actions were pardoned and your wish granted… …speaks to the enormity of your help in undoing the Infinite Tsukuyomi. But also, my becoming the Sixth Hokage… … and the wishes of Naruto, the key figure in ending the war, helped. Don't forget that." By this point, although he continued listening to Kakashi, Sasuke's eyes were drifting over to Sakura, who was staring at him like she didn't quite know what to make of this moment. "Try not to cause too much trouble from here on out." Kakashi continued, not noticing that Sasuke's attention was not fully on him by this point, "It'll fall on my shoulders."

The teenager's mismatched eyes instantly returned to the man as he finished his lecture, "Yeah… Sorry about that."

"…You really insist on leaving?" Sakura asked sadly, "The artificial hand that Lady Tsunade is crafting from Lord Hashirama's cells will be ready soon."

"I want to know how the shinobi world… ….How **this** world, looks to the current me." Sasuke told her as gently as he could, "I feel like I'll now be able to see the things I've overlooked. Things that I can only perceive in my current state. And… There's a matter that's been weighing on me."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. A blush crossed her face and she averted her eyes self-consciously, "W-What if… …I said I wanted to come with you?" She asked, nervously glancing up at him through her long, thick lashes.

Sasuke closed his eyes sadly, "It's a journey of atonement too. And you have nothing to do with my crimes."

At this, Sakura looked utterly devastated, hanging her head in disappointment. "Nothing to do with… huh…" She muttered.

Sasuke walked a bit closer to her and she looked up in surprise, just as he gently tapped her forehead with his index and middle finger. "Maybe next time." He told her with a warm smile, "Thank you."

Sakura's blush grew as the wind lightly tousled her hair, and she watched as Sasuke quietly walked away. This time, there would be no knocking her unconscious and no leaving her in tears. She knew he would return to her, even if it took a few years.

 _I suddenly grasped your hand tightly_

 _As though we were still pure children_

 _No matter what, even if time snatches the present_

 _I will move forward!_

 _I took aim and raced off toward the summer sky...!_

 _I took aim and raced off toward the summer sky...!_

Three-and-a-half years later, Sasuke walked through the gates of Konoha, much to the surprise of the gatekeepers. Having recently helped to solve the case of the exploding humans, he felt that he had finally earned the right to come home. He contemplated what to do first and his thoughts immediately drifted to the one person who had always been willing to stand by his side. When his clan had been destroyed, he had believed that he was all alone, but he wouldn't have been if he had taken notice of the person who wanted to be there for him. He remembered their parting a few years earlier and the words he had spoken then.

"I wonder if she would still want to come…?" Sasuke wondered under his breath. His journey of atonement was over, but he had not yet finished looking into the matter that had concerned him, nor would he for some time he expected. Even so, there was no real reason she couldn't accompany him now. Sakura had long since grown past being a young girl who could scarcely defend herself.

The thought of bringing Sakura with him brought back memories of a nearly forgotten dream, something that had once been merely an idea he had casually entertained. It was, strictly speaking, the only thing akin to a dream that he actually had, but… it wasn't something he deserved. _'But she does…'_ Sasuke thought to himself, and he closed his eyes in annoyance as yet another internal conflict swelled up within him. He needed advice, and for the first time in his life, he thought Naruto might just be able to give it to him.

In Sasuke's absence, the idiot had finally managed to see what had literally been right in front of him—or at least, hiding behind a nearby tree—for basically his entire life and had fallen in love with and married Hyūga Hinata. On Hinata's behalf, it was probably a good thing that the responsibility of heir to the head family had been transferred to her younger sister Hanabi, because otherwise, her own dream of marrying Naruto would've been utterly impossible.

At this point, Naruto, who had dated Hinata for a full year and had now been married to her for a few months, had far more experience with women than Sasuke did. It wasn't like Sasuke didn't have experience with women liking him, but he had always been so focused on his goals that he had never bothered with romance. Considering that Naruto was, as far as Sasuke knew, the only male member of their class to have married thus far, he was probably the best person to ask, as ironic as that was. The Uchiha man had a feeling that Kakashi's experience was entirely limited to reading perverted novels.

It took a bit of asking, but Sasuke managed to find his best friend's new house, which he was guessing the Hyūga family had somehow had a hand in his obtaining, being as Naruto had always lived in a dingy 1DK up until his marriage. Just as he entered the front gate, he saw Hinata coming out.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun, welcome back!" The young woman said kindly. Sasuke inwardly swore that she wasn't capable of anything except kindness.

"Is Naruto here?" Sasuke asked as politely as he could manage, but Hinata shook her head.

"He's at the Academy right now. He's an instructor there when he's not away on missions." She told him.

"I see. Sorry to bother you." Sasuke said with a slight bow.

"I-I'm on my way to see Sakura at the hospital right now, if you want to come with me." Hinata managed.

Sasuke shook his head, not bothering to inquire why Hinata was headed there in the first place (It wasn't any of his business). "I don't want to interrupt her work. I'll come by at the end of her shift."

"All right." Hinata agreed, "I'm her last appointment for today, so unless an emergency comes up, if you're not there when we finish, I'll bring her along and find you and Naruto-kun."

"Yeah, thanks." Sasuke said with a nod, accompanying Hinata back out the gate and then heading toward the Academy. Fortunately, the school day had already ended, so it wasn't too hard to get Naruto to leave the building so they could chat somewhere more private. After catching up for a while with his friend, Sasuke finally spoke to Naruto about what was on his mind, and the blond looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Are you an idiot?" Naruto asked bluntly, catching Sasuke slightly off-guard.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Forget about whether you deserve happiness for a minute." Naruto told him, "Don't you think _Sakura-chan_ deserves to be happy?"

"Sakura deserves better than me." Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruto snorted in amusement, "That's really not a concern, because the only one she _wants_ is **you.** "

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, "How would you know?"

"Cause she told me." Naruto said matter-of-factly, looking up at the sky. "During the mission to the moon, Sakura-chan told me that feelings of love don't change. She said that her feelings for you _could_ not and _would_ not ever change."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, having not expected Naruto of all people to have had such an intimate conversation with Sakura.

"Come on, you already _know_ that she's been waiting for you this **whole time**." Naruto continued, "That's why you sent your hawk to _her_ at mine and Hinata's wedding."

Now Sasuke was feeling slightly annoyed, but he nodded in confirmation. "Sakura's happiness is important to me. In this case, it's the most important thing. Scratch that. It's the only thing that even matters."

"Then don't you think you've made her wait long enough?" Naruto asked, looking up as he noticed the pink-haired kunoichi they'd been discussing approaching with Hinata. "Speaking of…" Naruto stood up and jogged over to the two women, Sasuke following at a slower pace. Sakura's eyes met his and after giving a brief greeting to her teammate, she walked over to the Uchiha.

"Hinata told me that you were back. Why didn't you come see me right away?" She pouted slightly.

"You were at work, and your work is important." Sasuke replied simply. Sakura seemed to accept this, if only because she was one of the top three doctors in all of Konoha.

From where he was standing with Hinata, Naruto let out a whoop of joy before picking his wife up by the waist and spinning her around, much to Hinata's bewilderment.

"Hinata's expecting." Sakura explained in response to Sasuke's raised brow over his friend's exuberance.

"Ah." Sasuke said in acknowledgement before turning to look at Sakura, and she did the same. "Sakura, my journey is over now, but I still haven't finished looking into that matter, so I'll be leaving again soon. Do you want to come with me this time?"

Sakura's eyes widened, and then she smiled warmly, "Did you even have to ask?"

Sasuke smirked slightly in acknowledgement, then cast his eyes downward, mentally preparing himself for his next question, "Before we leave… let's get married…"

To his surprise, Sakura fainted.

 _In the emptiness of this vast world_

 _Seems I've been trying to go it alone_

 _All those kinds of overflowing emotions_

 _I'll stop them for you!_

Nearly two years later, Sasuke walked alongside Sakura in a more northern part of the world. They were moving at a slow pace, as Sakura was heavily pregnant with their first child, but had stubbornly refused to return to Konoha or even inform anyone there that she was expecting. The pink-haired kunoichi sighed and placed a hand on her swollen stomach.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, seeing the pensive look on his wife's face.

"Today is March 31st." Sakura remarked, "If she doesn't come today, she won't be in the same class as Naruto and Hinata's baby."

Sasuke sweat-dropped, thinking for the millionth time since she'd conceived that pregnancy could make Sakura moody over the most peculiar things. "Why is that so important?" He asked.

" _Because_ " Sakura began, as if it should be obvious, "The three of us were in the same class, so I want her to be in the same class with him. Besides, you've read all the letters we've received from Konoha via Sai's Beast Scrolls. He and Ino have had a baby, and so have Choji and Karui. Even Shikamaru and Temari have had a baby, however _that_ happened! They'll _all_ be in the same class and if this child doesn't hurry up and start coming out, she's going to be behind them."

Not wanting to provoke his wife when she was so hormonal, Sasuke thought of how to soothe her. "We're in the middle of nowhere." He pointed out. "We could always just lie about her birthdate."

"There's a certain limit on how late she can be to get away with that." Sakura replied.

"You told me that she's already dropped." Sasuke reminded her, "Which means you could go into labor at any point."

"True, but on that point, _where_ exactly am I supposed to give birth to her?" Sakura asked, "We're about a thousand miles from Yugakure and your visual prowess is diminished. What if it doesn't return in time? Do you expect me to give birth in the wilderness? Do **you** intend to deliver her with only one hand?"

"Of course not." Sasuke replied, finding his composure again as they entered a topic he could handle better, "That's why we're heading toward a place where you should be able to deliver her in a clean environment and with the help of somebody that has two hands."

Sakura's face suddenly paled as she felt something, "Well we'd better get there soon then. My water just broke."

"See?" Sasuke said as he wrapped his arm around Sakura to offer her support and began walking again, "You were worrying over nothing."

"…She could still take too long. Do you know how long labor can last?" Sakura pouted, not wanting to admit that she'd lost the argument.

"Hmph." Sasuke replied in amusement, "Don't worry. It's not much farther."

恋人

True to Sasuke's word, they soon arrived at a place that Sakura had never seen, but she instantly recognized what it was.

"Orochimaru's hideout?!" She exclaimed in alarm, wondering what exactly her husband was thinking.

"Relax." Sasuke told her, "I've already confirmed that he's not at this one right now, and the jonin in charge of watching him said that he'd make sure that it _stays_ that way for now."

"Sasuke?" A woman's voice asked, and Sakura looked up in surprise to see a red-haired woman that she sort of recognized walking out of the hideout to meet them.

Uzumaki Karin was a kunoichi who had sworn loyalty to Orochimaru for saving her from the abuse she had suffered in Kusagakure. The morally-challenged scientist had still mistreated the woman, but had not forced her to overuse her unique chakra as the Grass had. Karin had inherited many rare traits that were unique to the Uzumaki clan, including sensory abilities that had allowed her to sense Sasuke and Sakura's approach before they actually got there, hence why she had met them at the entrance. She took a look at the panting and pregnant Sakura leaning on Sasuke for support and raised a brow at the dark-haired man.

"Karin," Sasuke began without a greeting, "Sakura has gone into labor. I need you to help her give birth."

Karin scowled slightly and placed her hands on her hips, "Do I _look_ like a medical ninja to you? I can only heal people by letting them eat my chakra, I don't know the first thing about delivering babies!"

"I can guide you." Sakura told her with a reassuring smile, "Delivering a baby is much easier than healing a broken bone. Usually anyway."

"I don't even want to know what that means." Karin replied, "But why on earth are you way out here if you're _pregnant_?!"

"I tried to get her to return to Konoha," Sasuke answered, "But she insisted on continuing to travel with me."

At that moment, Karin wondered who was more pig-headed, Sasuke or Sakura. She threw her hands up in exasperation, "Oh whatever! Just bring her inside and let's find her a bed. This is a messed up place to give birth though…"

恋人

Several hours later, Sakura was screaming in pain whilst Karin was trying her best to make sure the baby survived this process. To be perfectly honest, she had no idea what she was doing, so she could only trust that Sakura, the real medic, knew when the right times to push were. Sasuke was sitting next to Sakura, holding her hand, which she squeezed with each contraction. Thankfully, Sakura's physical and mental energy was entirely focused on pushing out the baby, so Sasuke was mercifully spared the experience of having every bone in his one hand broken. Even though, from the way she was yelling at him, one would've thought that Sakura believed he deserved exactly that.

Sasuke glanced up at a clock on the wall, and decided to take a gamble in the hopes that this nerve-racking experience would end quickly and happily for all of them. "Sakura, it's 11:55pm."

Frankly, part of the reason this was taking so long was because Sakura had taken forever to dilate enough to actually start pushing, but he wasn't about to mention that. However, his reference to the time seemed to have given renewed vigor and determination to Sakura, as she began doubling her efforts to get the baby out safely, whilst Karin questioned how that was even possible in the first place.

Tears of pain streamed down Sakura's face, unnerving Sasuke. He'd seen Sakura cry many times before, but never from pain, and he'd seen her take some pretty severe beatings. Karin's eyes were wide and sweat dripped down her forehead as she watched Sakura strain. She basically had one job at this point: make sure the baby didn't hit the floor when she came out.

Suddenly the air was filled with the cry of a newborn.

"Congratulations. You two have a beautiful baby girl." Karin said, looking up from the baby with a weary yet happy expression.

Sasuke sighed in relief and looked back at the clock, "11:59. You did it, Sakura." He looked down at his wife only to see that she had passed out. By this point, he wasn't surprised. Rather than worry about it, Sasuke gently set Sakura's hand down before leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry I made you cry again." He whispered softly, smoothing back Sakura's hair with his hand. He looked up at Karin as she walked over to him with the now swaddled newborn in her arms.

"Normally the mother would get to see and hold her first, but being as the mother is passed out, do you want to meet your daughter?"

Sasuke nodded, somewhat dumbfounded as Karin carefully placed the now sleeping infant in his one arm. The child cooed softly in her sleep and a tender smile crossed Sasuke's face. "You're finally here, Sarada." Sarada continued to coo as Sasuke rocked her carefully. In that moment, he remembered his brother showing him the moment that he first saw Sasuke and briefly wondered what Itachi would think of this moment were he here now. The new father leaned down and softly kissed his daughter's cheek. "I swear I'll always protect you. Both of you."

 _I see that you have shed tears just now_

 _As if you were a sobbing child_

 _No matter what, even if tomorrow is unseen_

 _I will protect you!_

 _I looked up and screamed out at the summer sky...!_

 _I gazed up intently at the summer sky..._


End file.
